Romania: projects and investment
OMV Petrom completed an offshore campaign in the Lebăda Est and Lebăda Vest fields on the Histria block in the Black Sea in 2010, showing that offshore work is an established part of Romanian upstream activity.
The IS-04Z1 is an intrinsically safe Android handset designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21, built for Romanian refineries, well sites, gas plants and port terminals rather than for an office. Romania had five refineries left by 2018 with about 13.7 million tonnes a year of capacity, far above domestic demand, and exports lubricants, bitumen, fertilisers and petrochemicals across the region. Distribution partners for Romania are being identified ahead of the Q4 2026 launch of the IS-04Z1.
Pre-launch · certification in progress · Launching Q4 2026
Short answer. Romania has no appointed SAMS distributor yet: the IS-04Z1 is pre-launch (certification in progress, no certificate issued, launch planned for Q4 2026), and distributor applications are open.
Status: pre-launch. IECEx, ATEX, UKEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress and no certificate has been issued; launch is planned for Q4 2026. A buyer's engineering review is separate from the certificate. Certification status. Place facts reviewed October 2026.
| Check | What to look for | IS-04Z1 today |
|---|---|---|
| Protection concept | Flameproof (Ex d) or intrinsic safety (Ex i) | Intrinsic safety, level ib |
| Zone suitability | Zone 1 gas and Zone 21 dust | Design target for Zone 1 and 21 |
| Certificate | Number, issuing body and schedule of conditions | In progress; not issued |
| Where it applies | Romania: Constanța, Vadu and Corbu, Borzești and Onești | Classified by the site operator |

An intrinsically safe Android smartphone designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 hazardous areas in Romania. It is pre-launch: IECEx, ATEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
The main operators, industrial areas and sites that the SAMS Romania market guide covers.
OMV Petrom completed an offshore campaign in the Lebăda Est and Lebăda Vest fields on the Histria block in the Black Sea in 2010, showing that offshore work is an established part of Romanian upstream activity.
Petrom was privatised in late 2004 and sold to the Austrian company OMV, the largest privatisation deal in Romania's history at the time, and has been named OMV Petrom since 2010.
Gas production is around 25 million cubic metres a day, with about 100 billion cubic metres of onshore reserves and an estimated 40 billion offshore, so both Carpathian-area fields and Black Sea sites matter.
Two reactors at Cernavodă generate about 18-20% of Romanian electricity, and the country also has substantial coal deposits and considerable hydroelectric capacity, so mines, dams and power plants all feature.
“Explosion proof” is the phrase most buyers use for equipment that may be taken into a classified hazardous area. Strictly, it covers several protection concepts: a flameproof enclosure (Ex d) contains an internal explosion, while intrinsic safety (Ex i) limits electrical energy so that an ignition cannot start. Phones are normally intrinsically safe, because a flameproof handset would be too heavy to carry all shift.
The IS-04Z1 uses intrinsic safety, with a marking target of Ex ib IIC T4, and is designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21. It is pre-launch, certification is in progress and no certificate has been issued.
In Romania. Explosion-proof is the everyday phrase heard at Ploiești, Năvodari or Târgu Mureș, but the real question is the protection concept. Flameproof Ex d contains an explosion inside a heavy enclosure, while intrinsic safety, the concept designed for the IS-04Z1, limits the energy a handset can release so it cannot ignite the surrounding gas.
SAMS is appointing authorised distributors ahead of the Q4 2026 launch. No territory has been granted for Romania yet and applications are reviewed company by company. Because a certified Ex device cannot be opened by an ordinary phone workshop without invalidating its certificate, SAMS looks for partners who can provide competent technical support and after-sales service locally.
Not today. Until the certificates are issued the IS-04Z1 stays out of classified areas, and until launch there is nothing to purchase. You can ask for the datasheet and the certification schedule, or book a safe-area evaluation unit.
No price is published. While certification is in progress there is no list price and no committed lead time, and a supplier quoting a firm figure for an uncertified Ex handset is promising something it cannot stand behind. Indicative pre-launch pricing is issued in writing against a stated quantity and site.
It is intrinsically safe (marking target Ex ib IIC T4), which is the usual way to make a phone for hazardous areas. It is not a flameproof (Ex d) design, and certification is still in progress.
The market guide for Romania covers Ploiești and Brazi, Năvodari, Constanța, Vadu and Corbu, among others. Site-level pages are linked below.
Apply through the distributor page with your company details and the territory you cover. SAMS reviews applications company by company and has not yet granted a territory for Romania.
Romania is an EU member, so ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU applies to equipment and Directive 1999/92/EC to workplace zoning. Zone 1 and Zone 2 devices should carry CE and Ex markings with instructions in Romanian where required. Operators usually add their own approval and permit procedures.
OMV Petrom, owned by OMV since 2004, is the best-known upstream and downstream operator, and Transgaz owns the gas transmission system. Each company runs its own supplier registration and contractor induction, so contact their procurement and HSE teams for current requirements.
The target is II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4 for gas, with Zone 21 dust protection in the same programme. Certification is still in progress, so no certificate exists. Check the final certificate and schedule of conditions against the operator's zone drawings before any use.
More on Romania, and on other places in Romania.
Share the site details and quantity. You will get the datasheet and the certification schedule back by email; pricing is indicative only until launch.
Send the zone and gas group of your site and we will reply with the datasheet and schedule.